Four For Friday!

1. With the many challenges people experience during the holiday season, The Salvation Army in Spokane, Washington, has decided to give the red kettles an additional role: collecting prayer requests from people in the community. Would you place a prayer request into a Salvation Army kettle, and if so, would you feel compelled to make a donation while doing so?

• Yes I think I would put a prayer request in The Salvation Army's red kettles. Its pretty cool that there is an organization out that that is so popular around the nation that is attempting to continue to keep Christ the center of the things they do. The more people out there praying for the needs of the people in this country, the better! I think its a wonderful idea. I probably would feel compelled to make a donation if I put a request in the kettle, but honestly I don't ever carry cash, so I would be scrounging around trying to find something to put in.

2. Katie Couric anchors the CBS Evening News; Brian Williams anchors the NBC Nightly News; and now, Diane Sawyer will be anchoring ABC's World News Tonight. What role does a national or local news anchor's personality play in your decision to watch a particular news channel or show?

• The news anchors personality plays a huge part in my decision to watch a particular news channel or show. Growing up in a small town that has a pretty impressive news, when there was a new anchor it would take two or three weeks to adjust to their style of delivering the news. When I got older and moved to a bigger city, I litterally felt like I had to "shop around" for a news station to watch since there were so many options. I had to find the group of anchors that got on my nerves the least. Even when it comes to nighttime news, or latenight shows, there is a choice of who I feel delivers the information to me the best. Picky? Maybe.

3. Tiger Woods says he's taking "an indefinite break" from professional golf because of, well, you know. If you could choose one other athlete, politician, or public figure to take a similar indefinite break, who would you like to see on that list?

• This is a funny question. I feel like its asking me, "If you had the chance to off anyone, who would it be." Poor people. On a similar track of the previous question, I think I'm going to have to say Nancy Grace. Could there be a more annoying show? I mean, if someone is watching it, I will sit there and listen to whatever she has to say. But the more I watch, the more I feel my blood presure rise. She is nosy. She is rude. And I wonder how she would feel if someone dug around into every detail of the worst times of her life. For goodness sake, give it up woman!

4. According to a leading research and advisory firm, spending on restaurant, retailer, and other gift cards will fall slightly in 2009, from $91 billion to $87 billion, of which nearly 6% (some $5.75 billion) will go unused by card recipients. When you receive a gift card, do you tend to use it once for a purchase in an amount less than the card's total value and never use the card again, or do you use the card to the fullest extent possible?

• Its money! Of course I try to use it to the full extent. Now, I may have a purchase that is worth less than the value of the card, but I keep it on me. Even though I may not remember to pull it out and use it for my very next purchase at that store, I know its there and will use it evenutally. Even if it takes me a while.

Thursday's Letters I'll Never Send

Yes, I know, its Friday and not Thursday. However, I worked a 12 hour day yesterday, so a new post wasn't really an option. I backtrack because I consider Thursday's a very important day of post for me. Letters I will never send gives me a chance to get things off my chest and be brutally honesty with myself, and the person that will never read this.

Unloyal friend,
In the past few days I have been really nervous that everything God is showing me right now is for the purpose of getting me to the point that I can forgive you. Which I have to be honest, is the last thing that I want to do. When you left me, walked out of my life without explaination, it hurt. Yes, you hurt me. Maybe I have allowed it to hurt to a deeper level than I ever should have, but I am not willing to make excuses for you. Loyality is the most important thing to me. You knew that. You left anyway. The sad part is, I can honestly say that I still love you, and would still do anything in the world for you, but there isn't a chance in the world that I could look you in the eye and tell you that. Which is only hurting me. Forgiving you has been the last thing on my to do list for a long time. But I have been called to love. I have been called to forgive. And not to do so grudgingly but genuinely. You don't deserve it. But when Christ died for me, I didn't deserve it either. Its going to be a long road to forgiving you. I'm not even to the point that I'm in the car yet, right now I just see that I have somewhere I need to go.
Only because I'm supposed to,
Me

I Want....Wednesday

I want my friends to come back. My full time job requires me to stay in this college town longer than everyone else. I miss them, and want them to come back.

On a happier note, I want a bike to ride to work. I'm going to work on lending a helping hand toward saving the plant. Inspired by a nature conscious friend.

Tuesday's Tip: Coaching

Funny that the title of this post makes it seem like I have some wise truth to tell you about how to be a great coach. However, its more about what I don't know rather than what I do. Tuesday's Tip will be about a mixture of things. Some tips will be a life lesson that I have learned and I choose to pass it on so that you have the opportunity to learn it vicariously. Other tips will be good advice on the how to's of life. This one will be something I have learned.

I'm a basketball coach for a 1st and 2nd grade girls basketball team. There are six girls on my team. They are overall wonderful. Talented, attentive, and quick learners. The problem: I don't know anything about basketball. See, I am the brains behind the league. I have spent the past three months organizing, finding coaches, ordering uniforms, scheduling practices, etc. Without being arrogant, things have gone so smooth so far. We were one short coach. Trying to believe in myself, I stepped up ready to accept the challenge. Well, its not going well. The longer I let this go on, the more I feel like I am cheating them out of a good experience. I don't feel like I am doing anything halfway, but maybe they deserve more than what I'm giving them. They are getting half. Sad.

The tip: Don't volunteer for something that you don't know anything about. Its not fair to the other party.

So much for the Sabbath

Sundays are supposed to be a day of rest for me. Especially this particular Sunday. I have been running frantic for weeks doing what I feel is generally too much for me to handle. None of it optional. Tired might not be good enough word to describe it. In fact, I do not know one that would quite do it justice. Needless to say, this was the day of rest I was imagining. Most of today has been spent worried, crying, hurting, and thinking. Normal day for me? No. It used to be. The horrifying teenage years were filled with days like this. Slowly as I have grown days like this have crept out of normalcy. I cannot say that I've missed them. Nope, I have not. Tomorrow will not be like this, my determination will guarantee it. Next Sunday = will get rest.

A Proper Introduction

Let me explain the title of this out-pour first. I hate giving up. Even when I am simply looking for something that I have lost in my hopelessly dirty room, it will take an hour sometimes because I want to know that I have accomplished the goal that I set out for myself. Sometimes this quality is a great strength and other times it is an annoying weakness. Am I a perfectionist? Not exactly. Its simple, I want to be the best that I can be. Some of you may be suggesting that I join the Army. Not the same kind of best I am thinking. As long as I have the integrity to know that I have done my absolute best, I can face much adversity. It's surprising the amount of freedom that realization has given me.

Now that you know that, something else that you may want to know is that I love people. I have found myself surrounded by the most intriguing individuals on the planet. Eventually I would like to write a book filled with pictures and descriptions of all the personalities I have come across. (Book for myself and not for everyone in the world to read.) Of the people that I dearly love my family is high on the list. With friendship being so important to me, I used to put them on the back burner more often than not. This is really a shame. As cliche as it is, much of who I am today is because of the things I learned from my family. Each and everyday I find something else that I find myself saying, "I think that because of situations that I have seen come through my house." You simply cannot replace lessons like that. Friends are family are my life.

To conclude, today I was described as considerate, thoughtful, and exuberant. Being called these things was an honor. Thanks to the people that made my smile be more than just showing my teeth!